The 2025 National Lands Summit & Training

The landscapes, history, and outdoor experiences that trails provide are at risk. As development, climate change, and competing land uses expand, protecting trail corridors has never been more urgent. These corridors safeguard wildlife habitat, preserve cultural landmarks, and ensure that future generations can hike, ride, and explore the National Trails System.

The will bring together federal land managers, local municipalities, land trusts, Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) offices, trail organizations, and conservation advocates from across the country. Over three days in San Antonio, participants will:

• Explore long-term planning and mapping strategies to secure threatened trail corridors
• Review protection needs and priorities across the entire system
• Build strategic plans to strengthen trail resilience and connectivity
• Identify the staffing and capacity needs that agencies and nonprofits must meet to protect trails into the future

Through interactive workshops, engaging speaker sessions, and networking opportunities, the Lands Summit will provide both practical tools and lasting partnerships to drive conservation forward.

Professional Development
Thanks to a partnership with American Trails, learning credits are available to attendees and included with registration. American Trails is a certified provider of:

• American Institute of Certified Planners Continuing Maintenance (AICP CM)
• Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES) (most HSW approved)
• National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) CEU equivalency petition
• CEU/PDH equivalency petition for other accepting organizations

📖 Learn more on the Lands Summit webpage
🗓️ View the full schedule
✅ Intrested in a three-day pass register here.

Join us in San Antonio, Texas, October 20–22, 2025, to help shape a collective vision for the future of America’s trails.

Info: Led by Steven Gonzales, Executive Director, El Camino Real de los Tejas NHT Assoc. & Courtney Lyons-Garcia, Executive Director, Partnership for the National Trails System

Info: Courtney Lyons-Garcia, Executive Director, Partnership for the National Trails System; Andrea Ketchmark, Executive Director, North Country Trail Association/Board President, PNTS; John Cannella, National Program Manager, National Trails System & National Wild & Scenic Rivers System, National Park Service; Karla Rogers, Acting Program Lead, National Scenic and Historic Trails, Bureau of Land Management ; Brenda Yankoviak, National Trail Program Manager, Forest Service.

Info: J.T. Horn, Senior Director National Trails Initiative, Trust for Public Land

Info: Nicolaus Craig, Realty Officer, National Trails Land Resources Program Center, National Park Service; Robert Wandel, Assistant District Manager, SNPLMA Division, Bureau of Land Management; lead from USFS tbd.

Info: Ellen Gass, Field Representative, Texas, The Conservation Fund; Garry Merritt, CEO, Great Springs Project; green spaces alliance.

Info: Tatiana Márquez, National Program Manager, National Park Service.

Info: Annette Paulin, Executive Director, Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas; Adriana Quiñones, President and CEO, Arboretum San Antonio.

Info: Greg Schuster, Arizona National Scenic Trail Administrator, US Forest Service.

Info: Facilitated by Anne Magnan, Team Mates Ventures, LLC

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

555 S Alamo St, 555 South Alamo Street, San Antonio, United States